Religious faith has long been a way of life of humankind since very ancient times, playing an important part in the progress of civilization and thought as well as social, political and economic development. All forms of religion have some common features which are largely related to mankind’s existence, life, death, crime, etc. And ceremonies are the mainstay religious activities through which religious objectives are satisfactorily manifested. Among the many religious ceremonies, worshipping the Buddha and attending the repentance ceremony play an extremely important role in Chinese Buddhism. “Repentance” is a main means of eliminating the karma of previous lives, and is a necessary process towards stopping the evil and cultivating virtue. Karmic hindrance being the result of bad karma, its elimination thus begins with the removal of bad karma. But in what way should repentance be carried out that will achieve the objective of getting rid of karmic hindrance and bad karma? Dharma methodology dictates that only the correct ceremony will achieve such objective. Since Buddhism was introduced into China, Chinese patriarchs and virtuous monks have produced a set of repentance guidelines according to the principles and methodology of repentance found in various Buddhist scriptures and treatises for the use of repenting Buddhist followers. It is evident that such efforts and contributions of the patriarchs and virtuous monks have turned Buddhism into a popular religious faith among the local population. However, it is easy for methodology to degenerate to mere formalism with the pass of time, and to lose its intrinsic spirit, getting further and further away from the true purpose of Buddhist penitence. When we examine the “Dharma Flower Samadhi Repentance Ceremony” that have developed for close to 1,400 years along with Chinese Buddhism, we wish to find out its spiritual significance and features, the changes it underwent along the way, as well as its educational function as a religious ceremony. For these purposes, we make the way of repenting as laid out in the “Dharma Flower Samadhi Repentance Ceremony”, the effects it generated and reports thereof as the theme of this essay, and probe its history, theory, thinking and practical value, with a view to elevating the knowledge of devotees in repentance ceremony and reinforcing their belief in Buddhism.
